Red Raider Football Notebook

Just when Texas Tech cornerback D.J. Johnson was getting settled in Ruffin McNeill's defense, the Red Raiders changed coaches and Johnson is being seriously impacted.

Asked Wednesday whether he had more responsibility this spring, Johnson chuckled and said, "Yeah. Yeah. It's a lot. It's a lot more. But it's all for the good, so it's all right.''

New coach Tommy Tuberville said Johnson, a 6-foot-1, 180-pound sophomore, is the kind of player that can be used in all sorts of ways. The first two days of spring practice, Johnson has worked at cornerback and nickel back.

Lined up at nickel, Johnson said he could be asked to play zone coverage, man coverage or defend the run like a linebacker.

"So it's a mixture,'' he said.

Tuberville said he could line up at outside linebacker and safety, too.

"This defense kind of fits what he does,'' Tuberville said. "He's a tall guy. He's lean. He's got speed, and he's got quickness. He's big enough to play inside. He's big enough to play deep, but he can also cover a lot of ground. He's one of those guys we're kind of experimenting with right now.''

Johnson said he was flattered to hear such talk from the top.

"I'm honored that he would say such a thing about me,'' Johnson said. "I'm excited to hear that, coming from coach Tuberville.''

New duties

Redshirt freshman Ernest Celestie has been switched to split end after he spent the fall at "H'' inside receiver.

"They're going to be working me and (Eric) Ward mainly on the screens,'' Celestie said. "We can do the other things, but they want to work with us more on the screens.''

Sophomore Ryan Haliburton from Frenship has been moved from defensive end to tight end. The 6-foot-4, 250-pound Haliburton is a candidate to play in tight sets, whereas Adam James can be either a tight end or inside receiver.

"They said I might develop into more of a pass (catching) tight end,'' Haliburton said, "but right now it's all run (blocking).''

Haliburton played tight end, offensive tackle and defensive end in high school.

Center Olson's spot

With promising young tackle Terry McDaniel back from last year's midseason knee injury, versatile senior Chris Olson has moved from left tackle to center for spring ball.

Olson and Justin Keown are sharing the duties there. Last year's starting center, Shawn Byrnes, was one of three senior starters up front.

"I'm happy,'' Olson said, "because center's more of a leader position, so I feel like I can help a lot of guys out. I like having a leader role, and it's nice just being able to play. Wherever I can get reps, I'm happy.''

Olson has played all five offensive line positions during his Tech career.

McDaniel, Lonnie Edwards and Blake Emert are working as Tech's left-side linemen, with Deveric Gallington, LaAdrian Waddle and Mickey Okafor manning the right side.

Emert and Waddle have been swing men, practicing at both guard and tackle. Okafor also can play either tackle or guard.

Can't wait for pads

Former Tech coach Mike Leach seldom talked much about how his team was outfitted, but Tommy Tuberville clearly relishes the chance to put on shoulder pads, which a team can do on its third workout of spring practice.

For Tech, that comes Friday.

"Now it's time to have a little contact and separate the men from the boys,'' Tuberville said. "We're going to have to start working on the running game now. We've thrown about every down in T-shirts (on Monday and Wednesday). Now we need to start running the ball a little bit and getting a little bit more physical.''

QBs of the 'D'

Tech coach Tommy Tuberville said the changes on defense probably are hardest on the linebackers, because of all the checks they have to make.

"Depending on formation, if the formation changes they have to get everybody lined up,'' Tuberville said. "Not only just know their position, they have to know all the guys in front of them. Not necessarily the defensive backs, but they have to know the defensive line, get them in the right spots.

"We do a lot of pressure. We'll do a lot of slanting with the front, a lot of bringing safeties up. It's a very complex defense, but it's all predicated on the formation after the call is made. Then when the formation comes up, it all could change. Linebackers have a tremendous (responsibility). ... It's just like a quarterback. They've got know almost everything that goes on.''

In brief

The start time for Saturday's spring session has been changed to 1:30 p.m. The Red Raiders will scrimmage at that time at Jones AT&T Stadium. ... Freshman DE Kerry Hyder made one of the highlight plays of the day. With the offense working from deep in its own territory, Hyder intercepted a Taylor Potts pass and ran it into the end zone. Potts bounced back on the next play, hitting Cornelius Douglas for about 35 yards on a deep seam route. ... Head coach Tommy Tuberville said he was proud of the defense Wednesday, especially the defensive backs. "Their heads' got to be spinning (with) what all we're doing,'' Tuberville said. "We've probably got six or seven coverages (put) in in two days. That's pretty hard to do.''

Compiled by Don Williams

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